Concert Reviews

Concert Review and Photos: THE INTERRUPTERS at House of Blues – Cleveland

House of Blues | Cleveland, OH | 08 November 2019

On November 8th, The Interrupters brought their ‘Fight the Good Fight’ tour through a frigid Cleveland, Ohio to play at the House of Blues. 

There are two things in life high on my list of dislikes; cold weather and multiple rowdy kids in one place. No surprise that a November night in Cleveland would be cold. I’ve lived in Ohio my whole life; I know what to expect. What I did not anticipate was to continually see kids of varying ages keep coming into the show. Thankfully and to my surprise, this never became a problem. Not a single kid was running around being rude or unruly while mom and dad buried their faces in their phones. It was honestly pretty cool seeing so many families bonding with their children this way. 

Up first to grace our ears was Sharp Shock, the UK born but LA-based melodic punk 3-piece band. I appreciated the talent of this band and their toned-down version of punk. Their enthusiasm for being a part of this tour was apparent. If you like your punk fast and loud, this band isn’t for you. If you like music on the more mellow side with a punk mindset, you’ll love this band. 

Next up was Skinny Lister, a 6-piece folksy punk band from Britain. Think of them as a less energetic Flogging Molly with a female singer, the same amount of drinking lyrics, topped off with an accordion and stand-up bass. By now the crowd was starting to fill in a bit. I’m not sure if it was because everyone was waiting for The Interrupters, but the majority of people were not feeling this set. I’ll leave it at that. 

Finally, we have The Interrupters aka, punk rocks motivational speaker. No surprise why children of all ages (like 34 for example) love this band. Bouncy ska and positive messages go well together. I think The Interrupters are a great band to be a child’s first introduction to punk. They promote positivity, acceptance and how we all need to stick together; a nice steppingstone to eventually fighting the system. Singer Aimee wasted no time getting close to the crowd to high five and sing along with fans, making sure to acknowledge everyone single person her hand or microphone could reach throughout the set. Guitar player Kevin’s birthday happened to be that night, so the band brought out a cake and enlisted the crowd to sing happy birthday. No worries, the crowd had literally been joyfully singing every single song at full volume already! This is what makes a set fun; a band so full of energy on stage and a crowd that easily radiates it back. It’s a powerful thing for a child to be a part of. 

All photos by Tiffany Detzel

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